 Bollywood superstar Manav is at the peak of his fame when tragedy strikes. Now this actor has to play action star for real. Yeah, that happens a lot in the movie. Let's talk about an action hero. Ayushman Karan is the main star here. He does a great job playing Manav, a self-centered actor who's at the peak of his fame. He surrounds himself with incompetent yes men. He brags about his money, which to be fair, he had very little starting out. He genuinely did rise to the top by being a great actor and struggling along the way. So the guy is layered. He's self-centered on one hand, but he's also trying to do the right thing on the other. That is, until his character and his entire career are on the line because of a tragedy that takes place, which I won't spoil. I'm not gonna go into the details because I went into this film blind and the reveal there was by far the best part of the film. It actually, like, hit me hard. I was like, oh, wow, I did not see that coming. Where is this movie gonna go next? And unfortunately, where it does go next is kind of your standard born identity stuff. I found myself liking this film, but not loving it. It's called an action hero, but there isn't a lot of action for a good amount of time. We have a bit of a slow burn until the later act. And once we get to that final third, things go kind of wildly in a different direction than I was expecting. And I just sat there kind of scratching my head for a while thinking, what, how did we get to this point? Manav's gonna find himself on the wrong end of the law. He's gonna have to go on the run, flee the country even while the cops are in pursuit. They're not the only thing that's a threat to him, though. The main threat in the picture is Bora, a man with high influence, deep pockets, and a really fragile ego. Something we all see every day in the real world, and it's not a good look. Jaideep Alawat plays this antagonist, and I have to say, he looks the part, he acts the part, but some of the writing makes him come off a little too silly at times. It's hard to take him serious, and it's definitely not that easy to look at him as a threat, especially when our hero handles himself against him so effortlessly most of the time. Now, when there is action on display, it's pretty solid stuff. We have your typical slow-mo speed-ups going on, beautifully framed, beautifully shot, high-res imagery in your eyeballs, and I have to say, the biggest highlight of the film, which is also a low-light at the same time, is the music. The score is bombastic. It's heavy. It hits hard. The bass drops constantly to a laughable degree, though. Every time someone says a one-liner or even reveals some information, it's followed with a bass drop. And then... This loud music kicks in for like 10 seconds. Typically, it's the same theme song repeated at Nazium, and then we're back to talking or action again. Wash, rinse, repeat. I have to say, though, that Bollywood music hits hard as hell. Way louder, way stronger than anything I've seen from American films. We need to step up our game. And the director knows it, perhaps to a fault. There are at least four music montages in this, like little mini music videos that take place throughout. Now, this might be a staple for Bollywood films. I'm not that familiar with them, but it was like, I got it after the third. We didn't need to keep going and kind of rehashing everything that just played out. The movie does have some twists and turns to keep you engaged, but for the most part, it's a pretty straightforward affair. One that's not deep in the slightest, which is fine, but they really hammer you over the head with the messaging of social media and how they take advantage of these actors and how they spin stories. It's even met with multiple different news anchors who are constantly showing up, spouting a bunch of nonsense, and then we get the real side of the story, as we see Monov trying to escape. Trying to get his image restored back in shape and ready for prime time. I think what would have dramatically helped this film out is shaving down that runtime by like 20 minutes, maybe even 30. I've said this a million times now on the channel, but less is more. We don't need to push over two hours. I think this runs 209. Go back a little bit. There's lots of filler here that doesn't need to exist, and then we have a quick snappy movie that's in and out. You're left with the great impression of the fantastic action and music, and even a great performance by the leads, and then we get ready for a sequel. But as it stands, it's a fun film, nothing that would rush up to theaters to see, definitely something you could put on in Netflix and have a good time. Those are my thoughts on an action hero. Do you have any interest in going out and seeing this one in the theaters? Or you think maybe it'll come to Netflix or something, you'll just check it there. Let me know in the comments either way. Like the video if you had a good time. Please think about subscribing if you haven't. I post tons of movie content every week on the channel, and it's not just the mainstream blockbusters. Lately, I've been doing a lot of Patreon requests. I'm even doing Bollywood, Tollywood, a lot of Indian films that are coming out. I'm going to watch them and review them, so stick around for those as well. Take care. Wow, you might be thinking, this guy puts out a lot of good content, and he seems to like movies. Well, it's also not my full-time job, and I am a one-man operation. In fact, this is a passion project of mine that I would love if you could support me in. You can join me on Patreon at patreon.com slash adamdoesmovies. There's a $1 tier, a 10, a 30 even. At that level, you can request a movie, and I have to watch it and give you a shout-out. You can also become a YouTube join member right here by hitting that join button. I'm on Twitch, live streaming some of these reviews, and also doing a podcast with a buddy. So lots of ways to like and support the channel, and I would appreciate it.